The SSS Ranked Hollow
by Akira Kuchiki
Summary: There is a reason the Shiba clan was exiled from the high class life of soul society. And unfortunately for Ichigo, he is about to learn just what that means when Rukia introduces him to a world his father never wanted him to know existed.
1. The Ghoul And The Reaper

**A/N: My update schedule might be a bit sporadic because I'm an overworked college student.**

A young teenager of 15 years of age was lying in his bed, his usual scowl even deeper on his face. His bright orange hair splayed about on the pillow as he contemplated what exactly happened earlier that day. What can only be described as a monster attacked him and the soul of that girl who was normally on the street corner. But a mysterious raven-haired woman appeared out of nowhere and killed the creature with what appeared to be minimal effort.

_It doesn't make any sense_, he thought, scowl deepening as he stared at the ceiling. He came out of his musings, as a breeze swept through the room along with a pitch-black butterfly. And then he saw it. The monster slayer from earlier came through the wall and onto his desk.

Ichigo pulled himself up to sit on his bed, his eyes taking it in almost disbelief. The only creatures that walk-through walls are spirits as far as he was aware, but they cannot interact with the physical world like this woman appeared to be.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He exclaimed. The black clad women ignored him though and he felt his muscles tense as she made for her sword, standing still in the middle of his room. Her eyes slowly moved, as if to take everything in. Ichigo made his move, kicking the women in the back, straight into his closet door.

"Who are you and what do you want!? If you're think you're a burglar you're a horrible one!" The women looked up and seemed to really notice Ichigo for the first time since entering the room.

"Wait a minute, you can see me?" She stated surprised, "Normal humans aren't supposed to be able to see me." She moved to get off the floor as Ichigo took a step closer, towering over her with his superior height.

"I wouldn't exactly call myself normal. Now, I'll give you 10 seconds to answer me. Who the hell are you?" He gave his typically angry face and glared at the women. But she seemed unphased and made to grab his face, twisting his head as he froze for a second in shock.

"How very strange, You must be defective in some way." Ichigo felt his temper rise as he made a move to strike at her. "Defective, I'll show you defective!" But his fist hit empty air as the women jumped over him, using his spine to push herself off.

"If you truly think you must know, then I'll tell you. I'm a soul reaper."

We cut back to a short amount of time later. Ichigo sits in his desk chair as the soul reaper kneels on his floor. With a look of contemplation on his face Ichigo begins. "So, you're telling me that you are a soul reaper. And you we're sent by this soul society on a mission to kill monsters like the one from earlier, who wanted to eat that little girl's soul." The women nodded her head in acknowledgement to all these things.

"That's believable to me… Along with flying pigs and the tooth fairy!" He yelled in anger, flipping the table in the process. The soul reaper looks at him in shook and a hint of anger. "Well why wouldn't you believe me? You just admitted you can see spirits!" She exclaimed.

Ichigo walked closer and towered over her with a smirk on his face. "I don't believe in anything I can't see. Plus, your story is way too unbelievable." He places a hand on her head and ruffles her hair in a mocking way. "Go play your soul reaper game somewhere else, alright you little brat."

A smirk of anger appears on her face, "So I'm a brat, now am I?" She moves herself away from him and holds out a hand. "Bakudo Number 1: Sai!" Ichigo suddenly feels his arms snap into place behind his back and tumbles to the floor in his lose of balance. He struggles and then even harder when he realizes this is strong enough to bind even him.

"What did you do to me?!" She laughs at him as she replies. "A paralysis kido. It's an art only a high-level soul reaper can use."

Ichigo then makes out a faint sound. Something is howling outside. "Hey, untie me, I think I hear one of those hollows." The soul reaper looks at him puzzled, "But I don't sense- "A crash is heard from just downstairs as the screams of 2 girls are heard. The soul reaper rushes down the stairs in time to see an unconscious girl held in the grip of a hollow, the other lying unconscious as well, covered in debris from the large whole in the side of the house.

Ichigo stumbles down the stairs and recognizes his sister Karin in the monster's arm. "Let go of her, you big giant freak!" He struggles against the spell, feeling weaker than normal after not having eaten for too long. The soul reaper stares at him, her sword drawn. "Stop! If you keep trying you will only damage your soul."

But one thing about Ichigo Kurosaki, is that when it comes to his family, there is nothing he won't do. He gathers all the strength he can muster and feels power swell that he wasn't aware he had. With a scream of rage, he releases the binding on himself. The soul reaper watches on in awe as he takes a chair and goes to swing at the hollow but is swatted away like an insect.

The soul reaper jumps in and slices the hollow's arm, making in screech in pain and release Karin, as she fell to the ground into her big brother's arms. The hollow Backs away from them into a strange black portal and seemingly disappears. The soul reaper keeps her guard up as Ichigo checks over his sister.

"Your sisters are fine. The hollow left without eating either of they're souls. In fact, it was aiming for one with a much higher amount of spirit energy. The hollows are coming for you, Ichigo."

He stares in disbelief. "It seems most of your spirit energy was hidden deep within you up until now, when you needed to save, your sister. That explains why I sensed nothing unusual about you earlier."

"So, all of this… is because of me? My sisters almost died because of me." _What a lousy big brother you are. They have too much to worry about already without all this spirits crap._ He gently set down his unconscious sister, right as the hollow came back.

He stood up tall as he proclaimed, "It it's me you want, then come and get me!" He stood still, putting up his fists as the monster charged. He prepared himself to move as the creature struck but was shocked as the soul reaper got in the way, teeth sinking into her shoulder. The smell of blood filled the air as the vice grip on her neck let go and she almost collapsed on the ground, forced to use her sword to keep herself off the ground.

"You fool. Do you really think one soul will satisfy it for long? They always come back to eat and devour. That is their purpose." She struggles to move herself into a siting position as Ichigo watches the creature prepare itself for another attack. "I'm too injured to fight." She pauses as if considering something. "Do you want to save your family?"

"Of course, I do! I'm too weak right now but if there is a way tell me how!" Ichigo exclaims without hesitation. She takes her sword and aims it at him. "It will only be temporary, but you must become a soul reaper yourself. Take this sword and run it through the very core of your being. Only then will I be able to transfer some of my power to you. I can't guarantee that it will work, but if it doesn't it won't matter."

Ichigo stared at the women and with no hesitation in his amber eyes said, "Then give me that blade soul reaper."

She smiles at him as he put his hands on the blade, guiding it towards his chest. "My name is Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki." Violet eyes stare into amber before the amber suddenly turns to red and black, and a moment later the world is enveloped in blue energy and light.

Rukia blinked her eyes open, seconds after the surge of energy as they slowly focused on the figure before her. The teen now wore a black robe such as the one she wore and had the largest zanpakto she had ever seen slung across his shoulder, almost as if it weighed nothing to him. But that's is not what truly drew her attention. What caught her eye was the large red structure wrapped around his arm. It snaked its way about his right arm, encasing it in some kind of armor and stopping at the hilt of the sword. She could see the armor wrap around the sword's hilt, as if to prevent it from falling out of its owner's hand.

He glanced back at the soul reaper as she looked down at herself. Her robes had turned white and her zanpakto was no where to be found. She could hardly sense any spirit energy from herself, all she could feel was the overwhelming amount coming from the man in front of her. _I only meant to give him half, but he must have taken almost all my powers,_ she thought to herself alarmed. _I don't have the spirit energy to kill a single hollow._

Ichigo turned back to the hollow in front of him, just in time for Rukia to catch a glimpse of his red on black eyes. A shiver of fear goes down her spine at the realization that this boy is a ghoul. And I just made him even more powerful. Soul king hope I won't regret this.

Ichigo charges forward and slices the hollows arm off, making it stumble back and howl in pain. He feels the strength surge through him, the energy he took from the soul reaper enough to give him the boast he needed to summon his kagune. Having not eaten in almost a month, it took too much willpower than he was comfortable with to turn away from the injured soul reaper. The scent of blood making his kakugan activate by instinct. At least dad should be back with some food tomorrow.

The hollow's fist rammed into his kagune covered arm, the shock and slight pain snapping him out of the daze. He flips backward then jumps up and above the hollow's head, making a motion to cut this creature's mask clean in half. His natural ghoul strength, kagune density and the sharp blade of the sword in his hands cleaves the mask like a knife through butter, as the hollow's cries fade away along with its body.

The adrenaline wears off as hunger forces his kagune to deactivate. He slides the sword into the sheath on his back and turns to the soul reaper. She sits on the ground, her robes faded to white and staring at him with surprised and mildly frightened orbs. He can smell the blood still trickling from the wound on her shoulder. He offers her a hand, which she hesitantly accepts, standing on somewhat wobbling legs.

"I need to get my sisters into bed, but you should get that wound dressed. You can use the first aid-kit in the clinic." He gently picks up Karin then Yuzu, cradling then in his arms. "And you might want to leave by morning. Dad doesn't take too kindly to unknown visitors, especially when he's gone on a hunting trip."

Rukia could only stare there in shock as the ghoul take his family back inside the house. It takes her minutes for her shaking hands to press the correct buttons on her soul phone.


	2. A Reaper's Duty

"GOOOOOOOD MOOORNIIIING, ICHIGOOOOO!"

Ichigo jumped out of bed and leap at his father, pushing the man's head into the floor. A slight grunt of pain greets him as his mind fully awakens for the morning.

"Are you nuts? What kind of sick freak attacks his own son while he's sleeping?!" Ichigo growls at his father angrily. Isshin moves Ichigo's hand from his face, a few tears streaming from his eyes, both from pain and delight. "You are getting good. It looks like there isn't much left for me to teach you, my son."

Ichigo then notices the delicious smell that fills his room. He lets go of his father and goes over to his desk to see the dark, bloody meat lying on the plate. Isshin pulls himself off the floor and hands his son the food. "You'll have to eat in here this morning. Afterall, we still need to get the living room fixed from that truck that crashed into our house last night!" The older man lets out a chuckle, "Can't have you eating with any prying eyes around."

The teenager gives his father a confused look. _Is this what they thought happened last night? Yuzu and Karin wouldn't lie to dad. But how do they not remember? Could that soul reaper have done this? I wonder if she went back to that soul society place. _Isshin notices the confused look on his son's face, "No you too Ichigo! I came home to the girls still asleep in their beds, and the only thing that let me know what happened was a note that apologized for crashing into our house. Luckily, they left us more than enough money to get it fixed." His eyes develop a spark in them. "I can finally get a new guitar after you kids so rudely lost my old one… and the one before that."

Ichigo, not wanting to encourage his father to subject them all to his horrible guitar skills quickly retorts, "But haven't you said that we need to get the uh…" He pauses for a moment to think about a good enough distraction. "Ah right, we need the bathroom redone! Yeah that costs a lot of money dad, I don't think we'll have enough left-over for guitar money." Ichigo says with a mock sadness in his voice.

Luckily, Isshin takes the bait. "That's a brilliant idea son. Anyway, I'll leave you too your breakfast. Make sure you get ready for school on time my delinquent son!" Isshin walks out of the room just as Ichigo feels his temper rise from being called a delinquent. Well whatever, at least he won't be hungry today.

Ichigo was at school just in time for lunch. He was chatting at his desk with Keigo, Mizuki, and Chad. "Dude, I heard a truck crashed into your house last night." Keigo says in his typically over excited manner. Ichigo gives a small smile, "Yeah, I sleep through it though."

A deep but quit voice joins in, "Do you need any help fixing up your house?" "Thanks Chad, but dad probably found someone to fix it by now-"A distinctly feminine, yet familiar voice interrupts the conversation.

"Hello, you're Ichigo right?" He turns around in his chair to see the soul reaper from last night. She is wearing the school uniform and other people appear to be able to see her. A slightly smug smile is on her face as she extends her hand for a handshake. "I'll be sitting next to you from now on. It's nice to meet you." As Ichigo looks at her outstretched hand shocked, he notices the writing on it. Make a scene and you are so dead. He looks at her in a kind of surprised shock and accepts the handshake.

He finds himself later outside with the raven-haired girl in the school courtyard. As he looks around to make sure they're alone, he lets his frustration out at the nearest source. "What the hell are you doing here? I think you were supposed to go back to that soul society of yours." She lets out a fake chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand as she does so.

"Such a rude boy you are? Tell me is that a living thing or are all you ghouls this- MHH!" A hand quickly covers her mouth as amber eyes stare into hers with anger that shakes her to the core. A deep, throaty and quit growl is released too close to her ear for comfort.

"If you're going to stay here for any length of time, you better follow my fucking rules." The anger in his voice makes Rukia freeze in place. "I don't know how things are in this soul society of yours, but you don't ever, and I mean EVER mention someone being a ghoul here, got it? Cause you want to know what happens? The wrong people hear, and they rat you out. The government gives themselves the authority to kill any ghoul they want. All we need to do is exist to them. It doesn't matter if we're a murderer or not, cause any trouble, or even find food through other means. No one can ever know, it's a secret we take to the grave. And if anything happens to my sisters cause of your big fat mouth, by the time I'll be done with you, you'll wish I ate you instead."

She can feel herself shaking, the words sinking in as he lets go of her bruised mouth. "I..." She takes a few moments to get her racing thoughts into coherent words. "I had no idea. Ghouls rarely appear in soul society, but now that I think about it there might be other reasons for that…" She trails off, a look of genuine sadness and regret on her face.

Ichigo, seeing the expression on her face takes a few deep breaths and calms himself, the anger fading away now that he knows she is no threat. "Just watch what you say okay? Anyway, what did you bring me out here for? I thought you were going to go back to your soul society."

The women put on a serious look, "I have almost no power left in me, no way to return for now. Almost all my power has been taken into your soul, Ichigo. I've been forced to be in a gigai for the moment, a fake body so that I may recover my powers and interact with the people of this world. I have no power to protect the living of this world from hollows now. The only one who can do this is you." She gives a look, seeming to be passing an honor onto him. "Therefore, I am giving you the responsibility of protecting this town- "

She is cut off by a monotone "No way" She sputters for a second, a look of pure confusing on her face. "The only reason I picked up that sword is so I could protect my family. I'm not about to risk my life for complete strangers." She looks at the laid-back teenager with a slight anger on her face. I guess we're doing this the hard way.

She pulls on a red glove, the image of a skull and blue energy on the back. She runs forward and rams into his chest, but instead of pushing him down, his soul is pushed out instead. His body falls limp and motionless to the ground. He looks at himself, noticing he is once again cloaked in the black robes of a soul reaper. His body lies completely limb, unmoving or breathing on the ground.

Rukia grabs the body under the shoulders and starts to drag it to the nearby bushes. "What the hell did you do to my body?" The unnerved teen practically screeches in terror. Rukia grunts as she leaves the empty shell in its hiding spot, convinced no one will find it. She brushes imaginary dirt off her hands and goes to walk away. "I'm teaching you a lesson. Follow me."

Ichigo follows behind Rukia as they walk through town. Having left the school almost half an hour ago, he feels himself begin to grow impatient. "So, tell me where we're going already. I need to get back to class soon." The woman doesn't look up from her phone as she speaks. "The spirit of a young boy is about to get attached by a hollow right about… there!" She points to the nearby park.

Ichigo sees the soul of a young boy scream it terror and begin to run as fast as his little legs will carry him. A spider-like hollow moves behind the boy, just far enough where the child isn't in immediate danger of being eaten. The teen moves forward and makes a motion to grab his blade but is stopped by a voice behind him. "Wait, hold on!"

He turns to see Rukia staring at him. "What is it, I need to help him!" She gives him a knowing look, "Why should you help him, he's a stranger after all? You said you only did this to save your family. The duty of a soul reaper is to help all souls in need, no matter the relation or consequence. Getting involved just because a spirit is nearby, or I need of help isn't how it works. You must be willing to go to any length, for all the souls of this world are equal."

As Rukia speaks, Ichigo watches the boy with bated breath. He watches and tenses each time the boy looks as though he's about to stumble, until he finally trips on the jungle gym. The hollow leans over the boy as he whimpers in terror, and the teen makes his move. He runs forward and slices one of the creature's legs clean off. It screams in pain as it is thrown back, leaving the boy, trembling and holding his head.

"Have you made a choice, Ichigo?" Rukia asks. Ichigo lowers his blade to his side and turns to look at her. "I haven't decided shit. What I couldn't do, is watch this kid get eaten right in front of me. But what about you huh?" He turns and gives the woman an accusing look. "I seem to recall you putting your life on the line to save me last night. And the last thing on your mind when you try to save someone is your duty! At the very least, I chose to be different!"

Ichigo turns and slices his sword through the mask of the spider-like hollow, killing it and making it fade to dust. A sniffle is heard as the little boy lifts himself into a sitting position on the ground. He turns to look at his savior and gives a squeak as he notices the intimidating teenager, with the large sword swung over his shoulder. Ichigo drops down to the boy's level, "Hey kid, if you don't want to go through that again, hurry up and pass on already." He gently taps the boy on the head with the butt of his sword, as a mark appears on the boy's head. A soft blue light shines as the boy's soul turns into a butterfly and flies away.

"You did that quite beautifully." Rukia softly praises as Ichigo rises from his spot. He stars at the place the boy's soul was, his permanent scowl just the slightest bit softer. He turns and starts making his way out of the park. "I'm out of here."

Ichigo could feel his anger rising by the second. After returning to school just before the end of lunch, Rukia took to following him around after class. Unfortunately, that also meant having to listen to her dramatic poetry reciting in the name of, 'attempting to learn the contemporary language'.

"Will you stop that already! Why are you following me anyway?" The response was automatic, "Until you acknowledge you're duties as a soul reaper." Ichigo was about to retort until they both heard the skidding of a car nearby. Turning their heads, they see Ichigo's classmate and friend Orihime Inoue lying in the street, a car speeding away.

The duo run towards her as she slowly gets to her feet. "Hey, Orihime are you okay?" Ichigo asks, more annoyed at the reckless driver then worried about her. After all, his friend can heal from most anything. Normal pedestrians, not so much. She beams at him and flexes a few muscles. "I'm fine see. Not even a broken bone." She blinks as she realizes Rukia standing right next to Ichigo, looking much more worried than her companion. Orihime takes a moment to think then, a bit too exaggerated bends over and grabs her leg, "OOOOWWWW! I THINK MY LEG IS BADLY BRUISED!"

Ichigo sweat drops at the horrible acting skills and helps her back up. She gives him a puzzled look and speaks in a low voice, "Can I speak to you for a minute?... In private." As he makes a point to stare at Rukia while saying this. The raven-hair puts her hands up in mock surrender as Ichigo leads Orihime to a slightly more secluded spot not too far away, but just good enough to make sure no one can eavesdrop.

"Ichigo, why is there the new girl following you around? You don't plan on stealing her blood, do you?" Orihime looks at him in horror. He sighs used to the girl's behavior after years. "No, I'm not. She saw me use my kagune yesterday, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to let her stick around. Just so I could watch her you know? I don't know what I'm going to tell dad though." He sighs, just wondering what he'll say to his idiotic and overprotective father. _I swear, that man treats us like we're made of glass._

"Ichigo are you sure that's a good idea?! What if she rats you out to the CCG? And even worse, they actually send Doves!" Orihime exclaims, tears in the corners of her eyes. She was deeply worried about Ichigo, after all being a ghoul isn't something people want shouted out to the whole world.

He sighs and gives Orihime a somewhat weary look, taking her hands in his. She feels her cheeks heat up as her mouth opens in shock. "I know this is selfish of me to ask but can you just trust my judgement on this? I don't think she'll do anything but," His voice gets deeper, sharper. "If you feel threatened at all tell me, or someone at least. There are enough people in this town to cover up some random girl disappearing."

Orihime takes in a breath as he lets go of her hands. She perks up and strikes one of her dramatic poses. "O-okay, you can count on me Ichigo! I'll follow whatever you decide." Ichigo chuckles at her antics. "Thank you… And I almost forgot, we have some food for you at home if you need it." She shakes her head. "Thanks for the offer but Uryu brought me some a few days ago. So, I'm okay for now."

Rukia looks up from where she was reading her book, abandoned by the two teens for over five minutes. She catches the tail-end of the conversation as they walk closer. "… so, I can walk home by myself. I have to get my groceries in the fridge after all." Ichigo pales a little, Orihime's food is infamously disgusting, even for human food. She must have killed her taste buds somehow, along with Tatsuki's who forces herself to eat that crap to make the other girl happy.

Ichigo grabs Rukia's hand and says a quick goodbye to the orange haired girl. Rukia looks just in time to see the large claw-like bruise on her leg before the girl turns down the street.

"Why the hell are you still following me? I'm going home and I already told you that I'm not doing this soul reaper crap." Rukia gives an angry huff. "I know what I saw, Ichigo. That mark on the girl's leg, that's from a hollow hand. It's your responsibility to take care of it!" Ichigo turns around and gives her an irritated look. "Why is everything about hollows with you? This is the living world, believe it or not but other things happen here. Maybe she got into a fight. Or maybe she tripped and fell weird, that girl is very clumsy. But you need to calm down. Your trying to be part of the living world right now, so act like one!"

Rukia takes a step back, whether in an anger or bewilderment, he cannot tell. "Fine if you don't want me to try to help you, then I'll just leave. I'll go sleep in a ditch somewhere." She walks off, shoulders slumped but hiding a smile behind her face. Operation sneak into Ichigo's house and convince his family to let me stay is a go.

Ichigo watches her leave with a slight pity for the women. He turns back around and continues home. Nothing I can do about it. God, if I ever brought a girl home my family would think she's my girlfriend.

Ichigo sits on his bed reading a book before bed, when Yuzu opens the door. "Ichigo, have you seen my yellow pajamas or my blue dress? I can't find them anywhere." Ichigo lets a bit of irritation drip into his voice. "No, I haven't. And can you knock instead of barging in here next time?"

Yuzu cross her arms and lets out a cute little huff. "Yesh okay, sorry for asking. You've been so mean since you started high school." Ichigo closes his book and looks at his sister. "Well it doesn't help that my family doesn't know the meaning of personal space-" He cuts himself off as he notices his sister. Her eyes are closed as she takes deep breaths through her nose.

"Do you have a new friend in school Ichigo? I smell a girl… Do you finally have a girlfriend?!" She exclaims happily, until Ichigo makes a motion for her to be quiet. "She's just a friend Yuzu! There was a new girl in class today and they wanted me to show her around. Don't let dad hear you say that. Now please go find your stuff." He practically begs her to leave, just wanting a good night sleep and no drama beforehand. "Okay, good night big brother." She hugs him and leaves, on a mission to find her missing stuff.

Ichigo waits a minute before he closes his eyes and focuses. Yuzu may have the best smell of the family, but he has the best ears. But the didn't need to because the beeping of a phone goes off in his closet. The door slides open as Rukia pops out in the pajamas his sister was missing. He practically falls off his bed, crawling away in shock. "Wha-what the hell are you doing in there?!" He whisper yells, not wanting his family to hear.

She pulls the glove onto her hand and moves to knock his soul out of his body. "No time to explain, we have to go. That girl, Orihime is in danger. There is a hollow right outside her apartment." Ichigo takes a few seconds to process what she said. He grabs her hand and pulls her out the window, off to save his friend.

A doorbell rings, a a teenage girl gets up to open it. Her friend Tatsuki is there, with a warm bowl of food in her hands. "Hey Orihime, my mom made some beef and potatoes. I thought I'd bring you some, considering you almost never eat any normal food." The girl laughs, an amused glint in her eye.

"Come on in, I found some cool stuff at the store earlier." The two girls go into the apartment, and chat for a long time. But after about an hour of talking, the apartment suddenly shakes. "What the hell was that, ans earthquake?" Taksuki yells, surprised. Orihime bolts out of her spot on the floor, just in time to save her brother's picture from crashing to the floor. She checks it over carefully for any crack in the frame, and places it back when she is satisfied.

"You know, for a scatterbrain you have great reflexes Orihime." Tatskui says impressed. The other girl lets out a bit of a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her head. "Well when you have something important to do and all…"


	3. Tearfull Reunion

**A/N- Just for refrence, I'm attempting to make each chapter about the plot of 1 episode from the anime. For now at least.**

Ichigo raced down the streets of Karakura, Rukia riding on his back. If a hollow really is after Orihime, he wanted to get there as soon as possible. The girl has had a small amount of training how to fight, but even for a rinkaku, fighting didn't come natural to her. Any attempt to train the girl would result in excuses until she was forced to practice. And even then, all her efforts were always half-hearted, never wanting to hurt her friends. She was frustratingly stubborn in that regard.

He eventually gets down the street to where he knows the girl's apartment is. Rukia jumps off his back and stares down at her phone. "It's not here yet but it's nearby. I'll try to find it, you wait here." Ichigo nods at her and stretches out his senses. He focuses on the apartment right beside him and hears two distinct and familiar voices.

"I'm telling you Orihime, you make the weirdest food when I'm not here. I can smell whatever you just made. What is it?" Ah, so Tatsuki was here too, good to know. It might be harder to protect them both, he thought permanent scowl deepening. "My cooking is not weird! I made ramen with eggplant, mochi and honey. Try some and you'll love it." Ichigo felt disgusted on the other girl's behalf.

Suddenly the ground shook as he heard a distinctly hollow roar, coming from inside the apartment. The girls scream as objects fall from shelves and break into pieces on the floor. "Rukia!" He shouts in warning as he makes the leap up to the apartment and jumps in through the window. Rukia lands beside him as they see Tatsuki fallen in a slump next to the wall, seemingly unconscious. Orihime was pinned to the wall by a claw, blood dripping from a wound on her arm. A hollow with a tail instead of a lower body was cowering over her with a clawed hand forcing her deeper into the wall.

Her eyes open as she sees Tatsuki's limp body next to the wall. She panics and goes to help her but feels her body being pinned by some kind of invisible force. Meanwhile, Ichigo brandishes his blade, and goes to slice the hollow's mask but misses slightly as the mask merely gets sliced off just under the left eye. The hollow's flailing arm strikes Ichigo, throwing him out the window and onto the pavement outside. He feels a sharp pain and then throbbing in his skull as he momentarily losses consciousness. Rukia starts to shake him in an attempt to rouse him, not faltering even from seeing the blood seeping from his forehead.

The hollow goes to recoil in pain, crushing Orihime in an even tighter grip, enough that the air is pushed out of her lungs as she struggles to draw a breath. She then fells a strange pulling sensation, almost as if her heart is being pulled out of her chest but without the pain. She is released and falls to the ground and looks to see a chain attached to her chest, leading to her body, limp and lifeless, the eyes having lost their shine and staring sightlessly into space.

Her eyes dart around and land on the partially uncovered face of the hollow. A flash of recognition goes through him Orihime, a large enough portion of its mask sliced off to recognize her brother's face.

"Sora…?" She whispers breathless, the eyes now focusing on her. "Ori… hime. Why… DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!?" Her brother's hollow roars as it goes to swipe at her with its clawed hand. Too in shock to activate her kagune, she doesn't have time to brace herself before a blade attached to a head of orange hair blocks the attack.

Her head swimming in all the confusion, she screams. "Brother what do you mean? I haven't gone a day without missing you!" The hollow turns to her, some of the primal rage leaving its eyes. It looks at her with an expression that could almost be considered tender, if it wasn't for the bloodthirsty intentions behind it.

"You started to forget me, sister. After all I had to do for you. All that I had to suffer through. My mother left my father for another man, your father. And I loved him like he was my own father. But when mother was pregnant with you, I realized that he wasn't normal. Mother had to change her whole diet to accommodate for you.

And when you were born, I saw your mitch matched eyes and realized that you weren't normal either. But you were my sister. I had to love you. And I do, even if you're not the same as me. After all, its not everyday that a half- ghoul, half-human hybrid is born. But your species didn't matter to me, as long as I could love you the same.

And when your father was killed by the CCG, I knew I had to get you away from there. Who knows what they would have done to get their hands on possibly the only half-ghoul in existence? And mother was too busy with her pity drinking to bother with us anymore. So, when I was able to get a job and sustain us, I took you and left.

When I moved us here, I was happy that you were making friends and that you were happy for once. And I was even able to find a source of steady food for you, guilt free on my part. Picking up homeless people's bodies on the streets was very nerve racking, so I was happy to have someone else to do it.

The day I got into that car crash, my last thoughts as a living soul was 'I hope my sister will be okay'. And you made me a shrine and prayed to me every day. But then you got more friends and stopped praying to me as often. It was your prayers and thoughts that gave me peace as a lost soul, not ready to leave for the afterlife. I was lonely but your prayers took that feeling away.

And when you got to high school, you stopped praying for me altogether. You are the reason I'M LIKE THIS!" The slight sanity that was I his eyes leaves as the rage comes back, his eyes turning red once more. His clawed hands wrap around his sister's soul, attempting to squeeze the life out of her. Her tear stained face looks sorrowfully at what her brother has become.

As this was occurring, Ichigo snapped back to consciousness, jerking awake. Rukia quickly pulled her hands back from her shaking of him. "Ichigo you have to go save your friend. Her brother most likely wants to kill her so he can eat her soul. Hollows don't need to eat souls to survive but to attempt to fill the hole in their hearts."

Ichigo gets to his feet and wipes the blood from his eyes. "But how can I kill him, if he's her brother! I used to know him; how can I kill him." "His soul is no longer that of the person you once knew. When we kill hollows with our zanpakto, we purify the soul to send to soul society. You will not be killing him, merely sending his soul to a better place. And if you don't do this, he will kill Orihime and that other girl in there as well."

Ichigo grabs a hold of his sword again. "Well if there's one thing I can do, it's protect my friends." He runs into the apartment and sees the hollow squeezing Orihime with rage in its eyes. He activates his kagune in time to give his strength a boast as he goes to slashing off the hollow's arm, causing it to release the girl. She falls to the floor panting and struggling to catch her breath. The hollow roars in rage.

Ichigo takes a protective stance in front of his friend. "Big brothers are born first to protect their siblings. But your doing a pretty crappy job of that. She's not going with you."

"Stay out of this soul reaper, Orihime is mine!" He turns to his living sister. "Come with me, so that we can be together like we used to. If you do, I promise to leave your friends be."

Hollow Sora stares at his sister, waiting for her answer, until he suddenly starts banging his head against the wall and makes a dive for Ichigo. He holds the sword in front of him to block the attack and leaps out the window. The hollow follows him and uses its tall to smack him into the ground. Ichigo doesn't have time to recover and has no time to move before the hollow comes charging at him, jaws open wide to rip a large bite out of him. But before the attack can hit, it gets intercepted by Orihime.

Blood drips from her wound as the hollow slowly releases its jaw. "Orihime," It mumbles, "Why did you do that?" She looks him in the mask covered face, regret in her eyes. "Because this is all my fault. It's because I begged you to stay with me that you weren't able to pass on. And I have no right to put you through pain like that. I've always had the feeling you were watching over me. Even yesterday when that car was about to hit me. I would have been fine in a few hours, but you pulled me out of the way, didn't you? I wear these hair pins you got me every day so that I always have something to remember you by. I was trying to be happy to show you that it's okay to move on, but I never dreamed it would make you sad. I'm so sorry Sora." Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke, and a look of pure sorrow and regret was in her eyes.

The hollow started screaming as the mask on its face started fading and coming back into existence. Ichigo stared on in shock. "Rukia, what the hell is happening to him?" Rukia gives the hollow an almost pitying look. "It seems as though the human part of him is fighting for control over the hollow part. He didn't become a hollow willingly. Its likely he was taken over."

The mask fades from Sora's face long enough for him to gain control. He turns to Ichigo, "Soul reaper, I can't stay in control for much longer. Make me pass on now, while it's still me. I don't want to hurt you my dear sister. My precious Orihime." He gently strokes the crying girls face with a clawed hand.

She looks at him, tears still running down her cheeks. "I will never forget you, as long as I live brother." He stares at her, love and adoration on his face as Ichigo comes forward with his blade. "I know you won't. You are too kind for your own good." Ichigo lets the sword swing, shattering the mask and releasing Sora from the hollow form for long enough to see his body. It then evaporates into blue energy.

Orihime collapses to the ground in sobs, her brother taken from her once again. Rukia stays with her as Ichigo goes back into the apartment and checks on Tatsuki. He finds her still out cold on the wall, so he picks her up and lays her out on the couch, hopefully in a more comfortable position.

Ichigo goes back in to check on the other girls, just in time to see a spark go off right in front of Orihime's face before she faints. Rukia pockets the strange devise. "R-Rukia what did you do to her?" Ichigo says in shock. "it's a memory replacer. We soul reapers use them on any human who may get in the middle of a fight and sees too much. That's the reason your family thinks a truck ran through the house. It only works on those will a low amount of spirit energy. Now help me put her back in her body. Her chain of fate in still attached so we just need to drop her back in." Ichigo picks her up in a princess carry and places her gently on top of her body as he sees her soul merge back with it. Rukia uses the memory replacer on Tatsuki as well, as her and Ichigo both leave the girls in the apartment.

Ichigo starts to walk his way home, Rukia still following him. "You know Rukia, I'm still not completely sold on this whole soul reaper job. But I can't stand by and watch someone get hurt. So, I'll help you with your job." Rukia smiles at him, "That's the most I can ask of you. Thank you Ichigo."

"You can thank me better if you stop following me home!" He glares at the girl. She glares right back. "But I have nowhere else to go! And how am I going to help you be a soul reaper if I'm not always nearby to guide you? I'll hide and be as quiet as a mouse." She gives him a grin; his response is to scowl back. "Alright but if someone finds you its your funeral." He starts walking faster but turns his head to yell as an afterthought. "And give my sister back her clothes!"


End file.
